Martin McCann is a film and television actor from Belfast. Since playing the main role in the award winning Filmbase funded short film, The Sound of People, he has gone on to star in feature films such as Clash of the Titans, Killing Bono, Shadow Dancer and Jump, as well as TV series such as Ripper Street, Titanic: Blood and Steel, and Tom Hanks’ The Pacific. He spoke to Film Ireland about what he has learnt about acting from his career so far.

As an actor, before I ever directed, I was often asked by directors for advice on directing actors. I was shocked by the questions they would ask. ‘What do you do with actors?’ they’d say. ‘I’ve heard they have their own language you have to learn,’ they’d say.

Maureen Hughes trained as artistic assistant under Garry Hynes at Druid Theatre Company in the ’80s and went on in 1992 to work in the Abbey Theatre for two-and-a-half years as head of casting. She has since moved on to cast several major screen productions, including the Oscar®-winning films Six Shooter and Once. She was also the casting director for Love-Hate, which stared the likes of Aidan Gillen along side newcomers.

Cillian Murphy is an Irish film and theatre actor. His early acting career comprised of a number of short films, including the Filmbase funded short, A Man of Few Words, before reprising his role in Kirsten Sheridan’s film version of Enda Walsh’s play, Disco Pigs. He has since stared in films such as 28 Days later, Sunshine, Inception, Perrier’s Bounty, Red Eye, as well as Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. He talked to Film Ireland about his approach to acting.